My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

“Battle Scene”,
c.1745, after the design (1694) executed in Rome by his father, Georg Philipp Rugendas I (1666–1742),
from the series of 69 plates, "Battle Scenes with Horses", published
by Johann Christian Rugendas in Augsburg.

Etching and mezzotint
printed in orange-brown ink on laid paper trimmed at the platemark.

Condition: crisp
impression trimmed at the platemark. The sheet has light creasing and a few
scuff marks (restored with pencil touches) and a water stain that is only
visible verso; otherwise the sheet is in good condition for its age (i.e. there
are no tears, holes, losses, foxing or significant stains).

I am selling
this luminous and velvety mezzotint full of fascinating incidents on a battle fieldilluminated with almost theatrical
lighting for the total price of AU$228 (currently US$173.88/EUR163/GBP130.01 at
the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in
the world.

If you are
interested in purchasing this panoramic scene executed by the son of the great
master of mezzotint and arguably the foremost battle scene painter of the 18th
century, Georg Philipp Rugendas I, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.

Sadly, the word
“mood” has fallen out of favour with many contemporary writers as it is too imprecise.
Nevertheless, I need to resurrect it as this image projects MOOD: an
inexplicably heavy mood of quiet melancholy. No doubt this feeling arises in
part from the portrayed desolation of the aftermath of a battle gently lit by a
shaft of light—a visual device called chiaroscuro lighting that was popular at
the time for the theatrical effect that it gave to an image. And, no doubt, the
small incidents (e.g. dead bodies being stripped of their clothes, a priest
performing the last rites over a dying figure and a scattering of grieving men)
also contribute to this mood of profound sadness. For me, however, the ultimate
reason must lie with the artist who conceived the composition, Philipp Rugendas
I, as he was one of the first war artists who actually worked in battles to
record what really occurred. In short, the genius of this image lies with the
authenticity of what is portrayed.

From a
technical standpoint, this print is very interesting to me as it fits neatly
within the mould of a very German approach to rendering tone. What I mean by
this sweeping categorisation is best explained by comparing the traditional Italian
approach with the German approach to simplifying tones into flat patterns (i.e.
posterisation). Essentially the German approach, as exemplified here, is to use
an outline around a tone whereas the Italian approach is to abut tones without
outlines. The reason that I mention this bold generalisation of cultural
propensity is that (all going well) I will be discussing the English approach
to using tone in an upcoming post.